Effects of Nemo Keep Patrons Home for Entire Week With Sales Down More Than 30 Percent

NEWTON, MA--(Marketwire - Feb 27, 2013) - Restaurant Sciences, a leading provider of restaurant industry information and analytics based on individual guest checks, today released data on the effects of super storm Nemo (Friday, February 8 - Sunday, February 10, 2013) for Northeast restaurants. Analyzing more than 8.5 million guest checks, Restaurant Sciences showed that Boston and Hartford restaurant sales were down by 33.08 percent and 36.22 percent respectively from the previous week. During the actual weekend of the storm, it was no surprise that Nemo kept patrons home with restaurant sales down 72.56 percent in Boston and 77.02 percent in Hartford. Overall, Northeast restaurants were down 12.67 percent in sales for the week of Feb. 7-Feb. 13 and down 23.16 percent the weekend of the storm, Feb. 8-10.

"Restaurant Sciences' data shows that super storms like Nemo not only affect business during the duration of the storm, but the impact is felt well after the businesses reopen," said Chuck Ellis, president of Restaurant Sciences. "Our data shows that full-service restaurants were hit the hardest and do not recoup sales lost to major storms. That one week will negatively impact the first quarter and beyond."

"We expected super storm Nemo to negatively impact sales that weekend, but we did not anticipate the mandatory travel ban that kicked off the weekend, or that customers would remain home the week following the storm," said Richard D'Angelo, owner of The Red Parrot restaurant in Hull, MA. "Inclement weather can impact sales slightly, but Nemo hurt our business significantly."

Restaurant Sciences sampled 8.5 million checks; all values shown have a Standard Error of less than 2.4 percent.

About Restaurant Sciences

Restaurant Sciences is the premier provider of syndicated data and insights on food and beverage consumption in restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other foodservice establishments. The company delivers market share, market basket, competitive analysis, pricing, promotional, trend, segmentation and custom analytics to food and beverage manufacturers and distributors, as well as the broader industry they serve. Restaurant Sciences transforms guest check-level information into detailed data and insights across all segments of the foodservice landscape. Insights are delivered online through their business intelligence tool or through custom analytics. Visit www.restaurantsciences.com.